Written In The Stars  TSC inspired
by RokuKuKyu
Summary: A young group of witches struggle to control powers they are unfamiliar with.
1. Chapter 1

"Rachel, please!"

"No. I can't handle… I can't even look at you right now. How could you do something like this! What were you even thinking!"

"Chill, Berry. He came at us. Quinn just did what she had to do. Besides, he truly was a waste of your time."

Santana picked up her Cheerios jacket off the arm of the couch, throwing it over her shoulder as she strode toward the front door. Rachel called out behind her.

"Wait! Wh- where are you going?"

Her left hand rested on the doorknob as she took a deep breath and released it. She spun around with a smile on her face and a mischievous look in her eyes.

"With the douchebag gone, our phony circle is broken. Which means…" she raised her left hand into the air, fingers fully extended, then pressed each finger into her palm individually, starting with her pinky until her hand was shaped into a fist. The chandelier in the sitting room suddenly went dark. She let out a soft laugh before she finished her sentence. "…we can now do magic again. WITHOUT help. And you two need some serious alone time. Or couples therapy."

A few seconds later the lights were back on and Santana was gone. Rachel looked around the room as if she had never been in her own house. When she completed half a turn, her eyes fell on Quinn. She was sitting on the edge of the sofa with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Quinn had been through a lot in her young life but she had never looked this broken. She looked up at Rachel with a silent pleading. There was a visible sheen on her face from the tears she had yet to stop shedding. Even with everything else she was feeling, Rachel could not ignore the ache she was feeling in her heart. An ache that only existed when she was with Quinn. She was conflicted but her heart won over her mind as it always did with Quinn. She steadied herself before taking the two small steps to the couch. For a moment, she stood over Quinn as if she might actually be able to ignore the need to comfort her friend. But the moment passed and she dropped down on the cushion next to Quinn. She straightened her back and stared Quinn in the eye with as much steel as she could muster.

"Tell me what happened."

Quinn's expression didn't change. She was too physically and emotionally exhausted to even attempt to pull herself together. She unclasped her hands and laid them palm up, one on each leg. Rachel looked at Quinn's left hand. It was still trembling. She let herself look once more into Quinn's pleading eyes before she took the hand that was waiting for her.

"I have no idea why I even bother listening to you."

"Because I'm your friend. Like, your only friend. And the only bitch in this town who isn't afraid to be honest to your face. Is there anything else you don't get or can we find what we need and get out of here?"

Rachel stood in the corner of the room, an unseen spectator of the past. Quinn stood in the middle of the dingy room questioning the validity of Santana's reasons for dragging her to the remote location. Santana went about the room searching in every crevice for something; what that something was, Rachel didn't know and apparently, neither did Quinn.

"Santana, I just don't feel comfortable being here. I don't even know where 'here' is."

Santana slammed the drawer that she was rustling through and turned to Quinn with an irritated look. A look that softened almost seductively, from Rachel's point of view, as she got closer to Quinn.

"Listen, sweet pea. And try to keep up, kay?"

Quinn hated when people were condescending towards her but she just really wanted to leave as soon as possible so she silently nodded.

"You yourself said that Fabrays and Berrys are destined. That it's, quote unquote, written in the stars…" She stepped even closer, placing one foot between Quinn's parted feet. Their faces were practically touching. Rachel could feel something swelling up in her. But it couldn't be jealousy. What would she be jealous of?

"So…" Santana's eyes squinted a bit as she placed her lips as close as possible to Quinn's without actually kissing her. She took a quick step backward and spun on her heels, returning to the disheveled drawer. "Don't you find it a little odd that this Hudson guy shows up out of the blue and has this weird pull over your girl?"

Quinn quickly interrupted. "She's not my girl. I just said-"

Santana shot a hand up in the air without even turning around as she moved on to the third drawer of the desk.

"Whatever. It's always been a male from one family with a female from the other. Blah, blah, blah. Maybe she's meant for a cousin of yours or maybe your parents gave up a brother before you were born and he'll magically find his way back to her. Whatever. All I know is that the only way Hudson is even close to Fabray is in the alphabet and you still got a letter in between. I mean, no one knows anything about him. It's not like we can actually ask our parents what families are supposed to be a part of the circle. We don't have all the family books. So I figure there's gotta be something we're missing. Something he knows that we don't. And I want to find it. For some reason, he comes here every once in awhile so I figure this is his little stash house of secrets."

She slammed the last drawer shut and turned around placing her hands on her hips.

"Now. Are you going to help me or not?"

Before Quinn could answer, they both heard the screen door open. Without a word or even a signal, they both sprinted out of the room looking for the cover of darkness. Rachel was still standing in the corner processing Santana's words. "Hudson has this weird pull over your girl. Your girl. YOUR girl." Her energy had always been stronger when she was with Quinn. And the sore spot in her heart had never ached for anyone else. Not even Finn. She began to walk in the direction they had escaped, forgetting her reason for being there.

Across the room the door creaked open, alerting her to where she was. He stood there for a moment before his head turned sharply to the left. He was looking directly at her. With muddled black eyes. The body was Finn, the boy she had loved from the moment she laid eyes on him, but in his eyes there was something missing. His soul. And she was wrong. He wasn't looking at her. He was looking through her. Into the kitchen behind her. The other girls had cut through the dining room and were trying to get out the side door. Just as Santana yanked it open, a fierce wind pulled it shut again. Both girls spun around with wide eyes. Santana calmed her expression quickly as she greeted Finn with a smile.

"Thank God. We thought you were a crackhead. Or some squatter looking for shelter. Or Freddy Krueger." She laughed uncomfortably. He still didn't move. Quinn kept a hand on the door as she reached for Santana's arm to stop her from advancing in Finn's direction. Santana ignored the fingers that brushed against her forearm as she moved closer to the lit living room. She tried again.

"Come here often?" That made him crack a small smile but it was unnatural. Even in the dark, Quinn recognized it before Santana did. She let go of the door and approached Santana planting her feet to the ground next to the shorter witch. She began to whisper a warning to Santana.

"I think he's possessed, San-"

He lunged for them before she could finish the sentence. Quinn instinctively pushed Santana to the side as she leaned away and let him hit the ground behind her. He quickly pushed his body up off the linoleum floor and tried the maneuver again before Quinn could reposition herself. Santana, fully aware of the danger now, tackled him from the side with the little strength she had. It was enough to knock him into the refrigerator and give them time to reach the front door. It opened with ease and they sprinted for safety with him in quick pursuit. He was much faster than either of them had ever seen him. Rachel ran to the front porch and saw Finn on top of Santana at the end of the pier. He was straddling her body as he attempted to choke the life out of her. As the wind picked up, Santana's voice was frail and nearly inaudible.

"Quinn! Concentrate! Please!"

Rachel could see Quinn's mouth moving but couldn't hear the words she was shouting out to the sky. When Quinn's head lowered there was a fervor about her that was uncharacteristic of her. She walked back in the direction of the demon possessed quarterback as if he posed no threat to her. With a wave of her hand, she proved that he didn't. He flew into the air and fell against the light pole with such force that it bent on impact and he fell to the ground a few feet below. Rachel fought against the strong breeze to get closer to them. As Quinn knelt down to help Santana up, Rachel heard the order.

"Kill him. You have to kill him Quinn. I don't know what he is but he will never stop if you let him live. He'll go after Rachel next."

Quinn had the same conflicted look that Rachel usually wore when thinking of Quinn. A look that turned into determination when she stood up again. As her arms rose to the sky it answered back in kind with a heavy rain. Finn struggled to get up. Quinn was eager to help him in his plight. She threw a hand up towards him with her palm facing him. His body straightened until his spine was flush against the light pole. He couldn't move. Santana sat up on the ground, watching as the imposter writhed and screamed in pain. Her facial expression indicated that she was at a loss to explain what was going on. Even with the torrential rain and funnel-like windstorm the breaking of bones could be clearly heard. Quinn was literally tearing Finn to pieces without touching him. Rachel looked away from the scene in horror.

When she opened her eyes she was back in her home, sitting next to the witch that had murdered her boyfriend. But she wasn't mortified. She knew she should be but she couldn't force herself to feel the way she should. She felt a calmness. And in that moment, she felt as if she had been relieved of a force that was binding her. She looked at Quinn and conveyed the fact that she was confused without saying a word.

"Santana was right, Rachel. He did have a weird pull over you. It was some freaky compulsion spell that the elders put on him so that we would accept him into the circle and then he could destroy us from within. When they say they don't want magic used, they mean it. I just… I had to protect you. I… care about you."

Rachel was still holding her hand. She squeezed it. She mimicked Santana's earlier action that had made her envious but she completed it and let her lips actually touch Quinn's.

"I love you too, Quinn. It doesn't hurt to say it. You should really try it some time."

They both sat in silence hand in hand and smiling until Quinn's phone vibrated in her jacket pocket. She quickly snatched the jacket from the floor where it had fell and fumbled to retrieve the phone. She pressed the screen to read a new text message.

"What is it?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "A few weeks ago Santana traced her family line and found out Lopezes are destined for Pierces. I guess a Pierce just moved into town."


	2. Chapter 2

"This is the last time I'm going to ask nicely, Ella."

He stepped closer to her as he dragged the palm of his hand down his face in an exasperated motion.

"Where…is…my…son?"

She barely stayed on her feet as she shuffled backwards in the narrow entryway trying to keep some space between herself and her husband. She had successfully eluded him for nearly 3 years with the help of the elders but something had shifted. When the doorbell rang, she hastily swung the door open without checking the peephole, hoping to see Finn on the other side of it. She had not seen her son in nine days but she knew better than to reveal that to the fuming beast standing in front of her.

"I don't know, Dan. It's Halloween. He's a teenager. He's probably just out at a party." She tried not to show how unnerved she was as she motioned for him to leave. "If you'd like, I'll have him call you as soon as he gets in. Now please go."

He moved with unexpected speed as he swatted away her extended arm with his right hand and used the back of the hand that had just wiped the perspiration from his face to slap her across hers. There was no chance of her staying on her feet then. She fell to the ground in a rolling fashion to avoid causing too much harm to her wrists. She'd had plenty of years of experience with avoiding broken bones and covering unavoidable bruises. She didn't attempt to stand back up.

"You must think I'm stupid. I've had someone watching this house for 2 days now. You come and go but Finn is nowhere in sight. Where the _fuck_ is my son?"

She could sense him leaning over her as she curled herself into a defensive ball. "I swear, I don't know where he is! I don't know! I don't know! Please! I don't…"

"If this has anything to do with your stupid witch shit… You better pray to whatever abomination you worship that I find him or I swear to God, woman, I will personally send you to hell to praise Beelzebub in person."

She waited until she heard the front door slam before she allowed herself to cry aloud.

/ / /

She wore a dark pink strapless short dress with crimson red accented swirls curling through it from the bust to the crimson soaked hem. Her face make up negated the need for a mask as bold strokes of metallic glitter outlined the top half of her face with silver filling in every inch of her skin in that area. Slick black lines curled out and away from her eyes. Little black dots around the edges completed the old fashioned masquerade look. She took the longest blink as she turned her head in the direction of the girl who had been staring at her. Her icy blue eyes locked onto the stranger's face. Normally she would look away but she felt no discomfort in the silent exchange between them. She straightened herself and began to push herself off the wall she had been holding up the entire party until she saw someone approach the smiling girl. She stopped herself but the momentum of her push had caused the drink in her hand to continue its motion. Before the liquid landed on the guy who had chosen just that moment to walk past her, it reversed midair and settled back into the cup. She took a deep breath and looked around her to see if anyone had noticed. Not a single person was watching her. Except the girl across the room who was no longer smiling.

"Don't touch me, please! I cannot stand the way you tease!"

"Ugh! Get…OFF me!" Santana pushed the boy off her as the Marilyn Manson cover continued to play on the speakers. She was sure she had just witnessed something she wasn't meant to see. This interruption was not appreciated. She started to make her way across the room to introduce herself but someone had her arm. More like something. The rubber material was cold on her skin and the bristly strands of hair made her arm itch as she yanked it out of the ape's grasp. He lifted his mask at that moment to reveal himself with a laugh. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Real fitting, Puck. If you wanna keep your banana safe, I'd suggest you keep it away from me."

Noah Puckerman shook his head, unfazed by her usual sourness. He gave her a once over, noting her in her normal clothes and asked "what are you supposed to be?"

Santana looked down at her black skinny jeans and matching low cut tank top. She tugged her black leather jacket forward as she straightened her shoulders and looked him square in the eye. She smiled her sweetest smile and struck a pose. "I'm 'Nice'. And if you don't leave me alone, I'll have to abandon character and kick your ass. Now do you really want to ruin my Halloween like that?" She walked away from him while he processed that. The blonde girl was no longer on the wall but there weren't many paths to take from that direction. She headed in the most obvious one and was rewarded promptly for her efforts.

"Antisocial butterfly?"

The girl was once again standing against a wall in the kitchen. Santana walked in her direction tracing the length of the kitchen island with the fingers of her right hand during her journey. The girl smiled again but neither confirmed nor denied the assumption.

"I mean, I'm just guessing, from the lack of wings and the fact that you have an attraction to walls instead of people." This time, the girl responded with a 180 degree spin move. She pointed at her back to a very small set of wings in the center of it. "I do have wings. They're just underdeveloped. Like Heimlich." When she turned back around, Santana was right in front of her, staring at her through squinted eyes.

"You know. From the movie _A Bug's Life_?"

Santana shook her head back and forth. "Sorry."

"Oh." That had slipped out. She obviously hadn't meant to show her disappointment and she most certainly didn't want to be viewed as childish. Santana picked up on that and skipped straight to introducing herself. She offered her right hand.

"I'm Santana." The other girl accepted the invitation for a handshake and gave her name in exchange.

"Brittany. It's nice to meet you, Santana."

"Really? I wouldn't be so sure of that just yet." She winked to show she was joking and Brittany laughed easily, still shocked by the lack of discomfort in her interactions with the stranger. She could feel a warm rippling inside of her. She glanced down and noticed Santana still had her hand. She looked up and saw that Santana was well aware of it too but she seemed to be amused by it. Before either of them could speak, another blonde ran into the kitchen with a short brunette in tow. Brittany's eyes showed alarm, causing Santana to release her hand and turn around. She could tell that this wasn't going to be good news and she growled at the two girls under her breath.

"Problem, Santana. Major." Her look was fierce but softened when she looked at Brittany as she walked quickly to them. She had a genuine smile as she spoke to her. "Hello. This is Rachel. I'm Quinn. You must be Brittany. I wish we had time to get better acquainted but I really I have to get going and so does Santana but we'll talk later, I promise!"

Without even taking a breath, she grabbed Santana's arm and yanked her toward the sliding doors to the patio. She slid the door open and the 3 girls stumbled out into the cold night air. Santana yanked herself free for the second time that evening. She looked back into the kitchen at Brittany who still stood there with wide eyes and an unasked question on her lips.

"Quinn! What the hell? We JUST met! You couldn't give me five minutes alone with-"

"Santana! There isn't time!" Rachel's scream was piercing. Quinn finally took a breath and walked back to where Santana stood.

It's Finn, Santana. His father is here and he's asking questions."


	3. Chapter 3

"So what's the plan?"

No one answered her. Rachel sat in the passenger seat staring straight ahead while Quinn steered the car through the poorly lit town on an all too familiar route. She was counting in between breaths. It was her worst tell. She would swear again and again that she was perfectly fine and in control but then

_One two three four five inhale_

_One two three four five inhale_

_One two three four five inhale_

"Oh. I'm sorry. I must have _thought_ that I spoke. What. Is. The. Plan?" Santana placed a hand, one on each of the headrests in front of her and pulled herself forward. "Or are we just gonna spend the rest of the evening cruising for hotties?" She spoke in a mock valley girl accent, intentionally, getting Rachel's attention.

"Santana, would you please sit back and buckle your seat belt? You are not helping anyone with this behavior."

"Really, Rachel? I didn't realize my lack of concern for my personal safety was ruining your evening plans of rendezvousing with a disgruntled Caucasian male hell bent on finding his aesthetically challenged freak of a son. But let me just get comfortable again," she settled back into the middle of the backseat and pulled the belt across her waist, "while we just casually pull up to your house, you know, the place your dead ex boyfriend used to frequent. Back when he was polluting the air with his swamp breath? Yeah. Awesome plan, Yentl."

Rachel jerked her body around to face Santana and was halted quickly by the overprotective seatbelt. It pulled her back tightly but she struggled and managed to shift into a decent enough position to face Santana. She sat in her seat with her arms crossed at her chest, inviting a comeback from the constricted girl with a smug smile and raised eyebrows.

"That is utterly offensive and not even an accurate insult! You know, if you're just going to be rude and counterproductive you can get out and walk!"

"IT'S NOT EVEN YOUR CAR, TEENY TURNER!"

"Oh and you think Quinn will take your side over mine?"

"What _side_? I'm just stating the obvious and-"

"No, you're being a jerk and frankly I am tir-"

"BOTH OF YOU STOP IT! NOW!"

They stared at each other for a few seconds more. Quinn spoke again.

"I mean it. Both of you. Cut it out. Santana's right." Rachel's mouth dropped open as she turned back around in her seat. Quinn's grip on the steering wheel was tight as she slowed the car down at the stop sign.

"I'm sorry I must have misheard you. Santana is… what?" Quinn put the car in park and turned to get both girls in her view.

"She's right about this plan. We can't just go to your house and think for awhile. It's the first place he'll check after talking to anybody at that party. We need to know our next step now and we need to take it." A sing song 'thank you' came from the backseat as they all settled back into silence. After a few moments of no one moving or talking, the voice of reason chimed in again. "You are aware we can think and move at the same time, right?" Quinn put the car into gear once again and drove straight instead of taking her usual left turn.

/ / /

Ella sat at the kitchen table scrolling through her phone's contacts. She didn't know who to call or how to call them. Her glass of Wild Turkey sat untouched in front of her. She hadn't even realized she was pouring it. For years it had been her bandage after his attacks but Finn had broken her of that bad habit. He was gone. She knew that. It was the only way the protection spell could have been broken. Cast in blood and broken the same. There was no way he was coming back but she still hadn't let herself mourn him. There were other people in danger. Other children that could be injured. But she hadn't tried to be social when she moved to Ohio. Her hermit way of life was comfortable for her and she felt it was the best way to keep her son safe. He hadn't protested either. He hadn't found a life of his own until those past few months. Now without him, she had no idea what to do next. She always joked that he was the adult and she was the child. But in every joke there is some truth. The phone in her hand vibrated as it rang with an annoying tone. She fumbled to answer it and quickly put it to her ear.

"Hello?"

…

"It seems we have a problem." She recognized the deliberate pause before the response. The voice only confirmed her fears.

"Yes, sir."

"And where is he now?"

"I don't know. He just took off and said he'd find… his own answers."

"Which means he will go after the other descendents. This is unacceptable, Ella."

"I know! I didn't know what to do! I didn't te- Hello? Hello?"

She was talking to a dial tone.

/ / /

"I'm just assuming we still have no idea where we're going. But feel free to correct me if I'm wrong."

No one acknowledged Santana's sarcastic remark. She wasn't really expecting them to. The peaceful drive would have been enjoyable actually if they weren't supposed to be running away from impending danger. She stared out the window as the slow journey continued. Blue eyes stared back at her. She let her thoughts go back to the girl she left standing in the kitchen without an excuse. As her eyes closed, she wondered if she could possibly will herself back to that house. Just long enough to say sorry or to at least take her with her. But that wouldn't be a very good first date, would it? She opened her eyes again and let her vision refocus on the window. The blue eyes were still there. But there were more than one pair of eyes on her. So many eyes that she couldn't see anything beyond them.

"Okay, this is probably the only time I will ask nicely before I panic, but what the fuck is going on outside?"

Quinn was still looking straight ahead as she answered. "It's fog, Santana. It's a natural occurrence."

Rachel caught Santana's strain of fear and looked out her own window. "But we're nowhere near water and it's usually not accompanied by a blanket of creepy eyes, Quinn!"

Quinn finally turned to her left and saw the different colored orbs on a backdrop of white smoke.

"Shi-"

Before the word even made its way out of her mouth the car coasted to a dead stop. Santana punched Quinn's right shoulder in disbelief.

"This is the perfect time for a pit stop? Drive!"

"It wasn't me! It just died! Look!" She turned the key in the ignition repeatedly to no avail. The fog of eyes began to close in on the small Ford. The girls sat paralyzed in fear, their eyes searching the fog for anything that could spare them. Finally thinking clearly, Santana yanked at the door handle. She could feel it release but the door didn't budge.

"Great. Young, sexy, and dead. I honestly have no idea why I ever associated myself with the two of you."

"Shut up, Santana!" They yelled in unison. Their hands were clasped together on the center console. Santana rolled her eyes at the sight of it, momentarily forgetting what was happening outside. The fog was completely enveloping the car but the eyes had disappeared. Santana halfheartedly tried the door again and it gave easily. She looked at the two girls in the front who were just as shocked as she was. She stepped out into it before either of them had a chance to stop her. As she stepped forward, she turned to look at the girls again but the fog was too thick to see them anymore. She walked toward the only spot that wasn't white, entranced by the staggering contrast of it. Her hand reached the surface of it first. Somehow it had become a door. One that she couldn't resist opening.

All they could hear was a loud woosh, like an oversized vacuum. All of the fog and eyes were gone. So was Santana. They were no longer on the same road they had been when the car went out of commission. They quickly stepped out of the vehicle, and into the soft mud they were parked on. Quinn saw the fear on Rachel's face. She could tell she was seconds from tears. She rushed to the other side of the car quickly and placed her hands on Rachel's shoulders, bending down a little to look into her eyes.

"Don't do it, Rachel. We're going to work this out, okay? We'll figure this out. We'll find Santana and we'll figure out what to do about Finn's dad. We just need a little time. And maybe a map…" She looked up at the building behind Rachel. They were surrounded by trees and nothing else. Except for the house. A mountain getaway? But whose? Something wanted them there. And if it was going to keep them safe for a few hours more, Quinn wasn't about to turn it down. She put her arm over Rachel's shoulders and walked her into the cabin to get her out of the cold air and into a better mindset.


End file.
